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Grampu
Grampu is one of the main characters of the show. He is Oobi and Uma's grandfather. He was played by Tyler Bunch. Grampu is Oobi and Uma's grandpa and guardian. He almost always has his hands full taking care of the kids. His biggest goal in life is to make sure his grandchildren grow up smart and happy. Grampu introduces them to new ideas, like how to paint a picture or make music, on a daily basis. He thinks being Oobi's grandfather is "lovely." Grampu loves to cook, though the kids tend to make messes with the food he serves them. He usually wears an apron and a chef's hat when he's working in the kitchen. Grampu has a crush on Oobi's piano teacher Inka and has taken her on a couple of dates. The kids often unintentionally embarrass him when he tries to impress her, but she never minds. A running gag throughout the show is that Grampu has terrible luck, despite his good intentions. More often than not, when he tries to get the kids to try new things, it ends in a good time for them and a messy disaster for him. From getting covered in pizza dough to having to clean up a tub covered in mud, Grampu has seen it all. It annoys him a bit, but he never lets the kids know, since it would spoil their fun. Grampu's catchphrase is "Lovely!" and he applies this phrase to almost every situation. Although he is Oobi and Uma's grandfather, he is not married and only one of his children—Aunt Oota—has ever been mentioned on the show. When Oobi started out as a series of two-minute shorts, Grampu had the least screen time out of the four characters. Out of the main cast, he made the least appearances in the shorts and was actually absent in more shorts than he was seen. However, when the show was turned into a full-length program, Grampu's role was expanded and he became much more prominent. He was often written as a foil to the kids, or as someone to give them advice and knowledge. While Uma and Kako were absent for many stories, Grampu was only absent for one full-length episode. In an interview with the Newsweek magazine, Josh Selig mentioned that unlike the other puppeteers of Oobi, Tyler Bunch intentionally left his arm unshaved so that Grampu would have the appearance of an elderly grandfather. By comparison, the other main cast members all had to shave their arms regularly because they played younger characters. However, Tyler still visited a manicurist to get his nails touched up every week during production. (source) While Oobi was airing, many parents and older viewers sent letters to Noggin asking why Grampu was Oobi's only guardian. The answer? Oobi's mom and dad are "still around," but they're intentionally never shown. The creators wanted to represent a nontraditional family, so they decided to have Oobi live with his single grandpa. Many kids are raised by their grandparents if their mom and dad are away for work or military service. Giving representation to non-nuclear families was important to Noggin, whereas revealing Oobi's parents just wasn't important to the stories that the crew wanted to tell. Grampu is a fair-skinned hand puppet with grayish-brown arm hair. His fingers are curled in the front and his thumb acts as his lip, giving him a "toothy" look compared to the kids. He is the tallest of the main characters. He has hazel eyes that are a little bigger than Oobi's. While Oobi's eyeballs are bright white, the whites of Grampu's eyes are actually a yellowish off-white color, adding to his elderly look. He is the only character whose eyes were never updated or changed throughout the show. When Grampu works in the kitchen, he wears a white chef's hat and a blue/white apron with a bowl symbol on the front. When it rains, he puts on a dark green raincoat with a hand-sized hood in the back. When he goes fishing, he wears a beige bucket hat with a red pin shaped like a fishing lure. Promo images Noggin Oobi - Grampu promo pose, laughing.png Noggin Oobi - Grampu promo pose, talking.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-pose.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-poses-happy.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-couch.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Tyler-Bunch.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Tyler-Bunch-as-Grampu.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-reading-portrait.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-clown.jpg Oobi-Noggin-photo-waiting-room-2.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-confused.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-reading-wide.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-reading.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-fence.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-dinosaur.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-scale.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Oobi-and-Grampu.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-say-ahh.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-consoling-Uma.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-valentine.png Oobi-Noggin-photo-Grampu-heart.png Screenshots Oobi-Camp-Out-Grampu-with-Oobi.png|Oobi and Grampu Oobi-Uma-Bathroom-dirty-tub.png|Grampu cleaning up after Uma Oobi-Dance-Class-Grampu-helps-out.png|Grampu at the dance studio Oobi-Dance-Class-Grampu-joins.png|Grampu slow-dancing Oobi-Kako's-Puppy-Grampu-close-up.png|"Lovely!" Oobi-Uma's-Birthday-Grampu-makes-a-cake.png|Making a cake Oobi-Haircut-Grampu-impressed.png|Grampu at the barbershop Oobi-Grampu-Day-Grampu-in-a-chef's-hat.png|Grampu in his favorite hat Oobi-Grampu-Day-Grampu-itching.png|Grampu posing for a sculpture Oobi-Grampu-Day-Grampu-frowning.png|"Ugh..." Oobi-Garden-Day-Grampu-planting.png|Grampu planting a seed Oobi-Piano-Lesson-Grampu-with-tea.png|Thinking about Inka Oobi-Piano-Lesson-Grampu-daydreaming.png|Thinking about Inka... again Oobi-Sleepover-Grampu-in-costume.png|"Gulp." Oobi-Petting-Zoo-Grampu-shrugging.png|Grampu at the petting zoo Oobi-Petting-Zoo-Grampu-happy.png|Cowboy Grampu Oobi-Uma-Sick-Grampu-worried.png|Grampu in the kitchen Oobi-Playdate-Grampu-game.png|"Game, game!" Oobi-Pretend-Circus-Grampu-walking.png|Grampu in Oobi's room Oobi-Pretend-Circus-Grampu-clown.png|"Oopa-doo!" Oobi-Make-Music-Grampu-trumpet.png|Grampu's trumpet Oobi-Video-Grampu-with-the-camera.png|Grampu's video camera Oobi-Uma-Dreams-Grampu-sings-a-lullaby.png|Grampu singing a lullaby Oobi-Chopsticks-Grampu-with-the-menu.png|Grampu at the Chinese restaurant Oobi-Chopsticks-Grampu-talking.png|Using chopsticks Oobi-Sign-Language-Grampu-reading.png|Reading a golf magazine Oobi-Uma-Trip-always-fly-Grampu.png|Airplane pilot Grampu Oobi-Neighborhood-Grampu-singing.png|Singing the Neighborhood Song Oobi-Uma-Preschool-Grampu-stay.png|Uma and Grampu at school Oobi-Theater-comforting-Grampu.png|Grampu's many "lady friends" Chez-Oobi-sharing-a-drink.png|Sharing a drink with Inka Oobi-Valentine-Grampu-reading-the-card.png|Grampu gets a card from Inka Oobi-Nature-Walk-Grampu-with-the-map.png|At the state park Oobi-Fishing-song.png|Grampu fishing with Oobi Oobi-Superheroes-Grampu-calling.png|"Good time, have!" Oobi-Superheroes-characters-hugging.png|Group hug *The glass puppet eyes used for Grampu stayed the same throughout the entire series. The eye props used for the kids were updated three times each, making Grampu the only character whose appearance never changed. *"Frieda Friend!" is the only full-length episode where Grampu doesn't appear. *A photo in "Grampu Day!" shows that Grampu had brown hair on his head as a young adult. Since "Haircut!" reveals that Oobi's natural hair color is brown, Oobi probably inherited Grampu's hair color. *In "Sleepover!", it is shown that Grampu can uncurl his fingers to look like Oobi if he tries hard enough. *Grampu's name is sometimes misspelled as "Grandpu" or "Grandpoo" on plot summaries from Nickelodeon. *His counterpart in Oobi: Dasdasi, the Iranian adaptation of the series, is a grandfather hand puppet with glasses and blue eyes who wears a red hat. Unlike Grampu, his counterpart on Dasdasi is more of a recurring character than a main one. *Because Oobi and Grampu share the same eye color and skin tone, it is implied that Oobi will look exactly like Grampu when he grows older. Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Main characters Category:Multiple-show characters